Reclining chairs



April 11, 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,979,116

' RECLINING CHAIRS Original Filed June 18, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF F. SCHLIEPHACKE 4:0 zfi m m ATTORNEY.

April 11, 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE RECLINING CHAIRS Original Filed Junels, 1957 3 sheets sheet 2 I I I I I I INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF F SCHLIEPHACKEATTORNEY.

April 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,979,116

1 RECLINING CHAIRS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed June 18, 1957INVENTOR FRIDTJOF F SCHLIEPHACKE A TTORNEY.

United States Patent RECLINING CHAIRS Fridtjof F. Schliephacke,Berlin-Schmarge'ndorf, Germany, assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach,Fla.

Original application June 18, 1957, Ser. No. 666,337,

now PatentNo. 2,875,814, dated Mar. 3, 1959. Digislfgstgmd thisapplication June 10, 1958, Ser. No.

Claims. (Cl. 155'-106) This invention relates to chairs and pertainsparticularly to reclining chairs having a backrest, a seat,.and a legrest, all supported on a base frame and movable with respect to saidbase frame and with respect to each other to assume a recliningposition.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reclining chair inwhich the backrest, seat and leg rest, when moved to reclining position,support the body of the occupant in a relaxed, comfortable position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide aconstruction in which the operative connections between the parts of thechair are such as to permit a compact arrangement of parts adapted toconform to modern styling having a light, graceful appearance.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide aconstruction in which, in the upright position of the chair, the legrest is located beneath the seat and is substantially concealed fromview, and in which, in the reclining position of the chair, the leg restis swung downwardly, forwardly and upwardly to a position in advance ofthe seat.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter. g

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes ofillustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the chair, one side frame being brokenaway, the chair being shown in upright position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the chair in reclining position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view, showing the chair in upright position.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No.666,337, filed June 18, 1957, now US. Patent No. 2,875,814, grantedMarch 3, 1959.

Referring to the drawings, the base frame comprises pairs of legs 1, 2tied together transversely by cross bars 3, 4 to form a supportingcradle for the side frames 5, 6 which are rigidly secured thereto. Theside frames may be rigidly connected by a cross frame 7. The legs 1, 2-

and cross bars 3, 4 may conveniently be made of suitable structuralmetal shapes such as rods or tubing, and the side frames 5, 6 and crossframe 7 may conveniently be made of wood or metal, upholstered or not,as desired. The cradle and side frames together form a base frame unitsupporting the movable parts of the chair as hereinafter described.

The movable parts of the chair include a backrest 8 and seat 9 which arerigidly connected together as a unit, and a leg rest 10. These parts maybe of any desired type of standard construction, upholstered or not, asdesired. As shown, each of these parts is an upholstered type, in whichthe upholstery is mounted on a suitable supporting frame. In thefollowing description, the operative connections between the movableparts will be described with respect to only one side of the chair, it

ice

being understood that said parts are duplicated on the other side of thechair.

A bracket 71 is rigidly mountedon the bottom of the frame of the seatand backrest, and this bracket is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 72to a lever 73 which is pivotally mounted by pivot pin 74 on the sideframe 5. One end of link 75 is also pivotally connected to bracket 71 bythe pivot pin 72, and the other end of link 75 is connected by pivot pin76 to one end of lever 77 which is pivotally mounted on side frame 5 bypivot pin 78. The pivot pin 78 is located intermediate the ends of lever77, and the other end of the lever is pivotally con nected to a leg restactuating lever 28. When the seat and backrest unit is tilted backwardlyas shown in Figure 2, swinging on pivot 74, the motion is transmittedthrough link 75 to lever 77 which actuates the lever 28 to operate theleg rest as hereinafter described.

A lever 81 is also provided which guides and supports the seat. Saidlever is pivotally connected to the seat frame by-pivot pin 82 andpivotally connected to the side frame 5 by pivot pin 83. In addition, ifdesired, the depending end of lever 81 may be connected to the dependingend of lever 73 by link 34, said link being pivotally connected to saidlevers by pivot pins $5 and ,86 respectively.

The leg rest actuating lever 28 is pivotally connectedat its forward endto bracket 51 by pivot pin 52. It is also.

connected by pivot pin 53 to one endof connecting.

lever 54, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on the seat frameby pivot pin 55. Connecting lever 54 is pivotally connected at anintermediate point to one end of link 56 by pivot pin 57, the other endof said link 56; being pivotally connected by pivot pin 53 to one arm ofa supporting lever 59 which is pivotally mounted on the seat frame bypivot pin 60. The other arm of the supporting lever 59 is pivotallyconnected to link 61 by pivot pin 62, and link 61, in turn, is pivotallyconnected. to the leg rest frame by pivot pin 63 extending throughbracket 64 attached to the leg rest frame.

In the upright position of the chair, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3,the backrest slopes slightly backwardly from a vertical position, andthe seat slopes slightly downwardly from front to back in order toprovide a comfortable seated posture for the occupant. In this position,the leg rest is located beneath the seat, and is almost entirelyconcealed from view. In the reclining position, as illustrated in Figure2, the backrest and seat are tilted backwardly and are moved backwardlywith respect to the side frames. At the same time, the leg rest has beenswung downwardly, forwardly and upwardly to a position to support thelegs of the occupant.

The shift from upright to reclining position may be brought aboutwhenever one sitting in the chair in its upright position exertsbackward pressure against the backrest by shifting the weight of thebody or by pressing forwardly against the side frames of the base unit,or both. As the seat and backrest moves backwardly, lever 73 swings onpivot 74, while link 75 causes lever 77 to swing on pivot 78 to move theleg rest actuating lever 28 forwardly. At the same time, the backwardmotion of the seat and backrest swings the lever 81 on its pivot 83 toguide and support the seat.

The forward motion of the actuating lever 28 has two results. First, itmoves the pivot 52 of the leg rest forwardly to a position in advance ofthe seat. Second, through actuation of the connecting lever 54, link 56,supporting lever 59 and link 61, it swings the leg rest downwardly,forwardly and upwardly to the position shown in Figure 2.

If, now, it is desired to resume upright .position, it is only necessaryto exert slight downward pressure on the leg rest, accompanied, ifdesired, by pressing backwardly against the side frames to relieve thebackward pressure of the body against the backrest.

As shown in the drawings, the leg, rest is mountedto, swing on theforward end of the seat in the manner illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3of my copending applicationhereinbefore referred to, but it will beunderstood that the mounting shown in Figures 4, 5,;6 and 7 of saidcopending application may also be used. I

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified andembodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

4; A reclining chair comprising a base unit having opposed, spacedside-frarnes, a-seat and backrest unit located between said side frames,a lever pivotally mounted on an opposed side frame at a point betweenits ends, the upper end of said lever being pivotally connected to therear portion of saidseat and backrest unit and supporting the rearportion of said seat and backrest unit for swinging movement on saidside frame, a second lever pivotally mounted on said opposed side frameat a point between its ends, the v upper end of said lever beingpivotally connected to the front portion of said seat and 1. A recliningchair comprising a base unit having opposed, spaced side frames, 21 seatand backrest unit lo: cated between said side frames, a lever pivotallyconnected to the rear portion of said seat and backrest unit andpivotally mounted on an opposed side frame and supporting the rearportion of said seat and backrest unit for swinging movement on saidside frame, a second lever pivotally mounted on said side frame andpivotally connected to the front portion of said seat and backrest unitand supporting the front portion of said seat and backrest unit forswinging movement on said side frame, a third lever pivotally mounted onsaid side frame at a point between the ends of said lever, a linkpivotally connected to said seat and backrest unit and pivotallyconnected to one end of said third lever, a leg rest mounted to swing onthe forward end of said seat,'and means including a leg rest actuatinglever pivotally con. nected to the other end of said third lever toactuate said leg rest upon swinging movement of said seat and backrestunit on said side frame.

2. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivotalconnection of said first lever to said seat and backrest unit coincideswith the pivotal connection of said link to said seat and backrest unit.

3. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1' in which said leg restactuating means also includes a leg rest supporting lever pivotallymounted on said seat and backrest unit and operatively connected to saidleg rest, and means including a connecting lever pivotally mounted onsaid seat and backrest unit for operatively connecting said leg restsupporting lever to said leg rest actuating lever.

backrest unit and supporting the front portion of said seat and backrestunit for swinging movement onv said side frame, and a link pivotallyconnected to the lower end of said first lever and pivotally connectedto the lower end of said second'lever.

5. A reclining chair comprising a base unit having opposed, spaced sideframes, a seat and backrest unit located between said side frames andmounted for swinging movement 'on said side frames, 2 leg rest mountedto swing on the forward end of said seat, and means operativelyconnected to said seat and backrest unit to swing said leg rest to aposition in advance, of said seat when said seat and backrest unit istilted backwardly with respect to said side frames, said means includinga'leg rest actuating lever pivotally connected to said leg rest andoperatively connected to said seat and backrest unit, a connecting leverpivotally connected at one end to said seat and pivotally connected atits other'end to said' leg rest actuating lever, a leg rest supportinglever pivotally mounted on said seat, and a connectingplink having oneend pivotally connected tosaid connecting lever at a I point betweenitsends and having its other end pivotally connected to said supportinglever at apoint below the point'where the supporting lever is mounted onsaid scat.

References Cited in-the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

